I think a lot of people here are trying to project what they want the song to be about, rather than putting what it actually seems to be saying.
To me, it's obviously about the irony of enviromentalist culture; that the kinda people who sit complaining about consumerism do so in starbucks.
If you reverse the song, had it talking about a beautiful river or something rather than a highway, that section of the song would be classed as "moving" rather than humerous; what's the difference in finding beauty in nature and finding beauty in human development?
But, no, I don't think he's being anti-enviromentalist. Just pointing out the fact that there's no way back to a hunter gatherer society, so stop moaning and being all romantic about the "good old days" and just do the best with what we've got.
It's called evolution. Society evolves in the same way that nature does. Everything is industrialised because that's what we wanted. Now we need to find a way to balance meeting our needs and not destroying our planet. Too much focus on preserving the natural enviroment, and we wouldn't be able to cope, and miss out on the kinds of scientific developments that save lives. Too much focus on satisfying human needs and not enough on preserving the enviroment, and we'll live in a barron, smoggy wasteground.
I think a lot of people here are trying to project what they want the song to be about, rather than putting what it actually seems to be saying.
To me, it's obviously about the irony of enviromentalist culture; that the kinda people who sit complaining about consumerism do so in starbucks.
If you reverse the song, had it talking about a beautiful river or something rather than a highway, that section of the song would be classed as "moving" rather than humerous; what's the difference in finding beauty in nature and finding beauty in human development?
But, no, I don't think he's being anti-enviromentalist. Just pointing out the fact that there's no way back to a hunter gatherer society, so stop moaning and being all romantic about the "good old days" and just do the best with what we've got.
It's called evolution. Society evolves in the same way that nature does. Everything is industrialised because that's what we wanted. Now we need to find a way to balance meeting our needs and not destroying our planet. Too much focus on preserving the natural enviroment, and we wouldn't be able to cope, and miss out on the kinds of scientific developments that save lives. Too much focus on satisfying human needs and not enough on preserving the enviroment, and we'll live in a barron, smoggy wasteground.